


Angels: Tell Me Your Lies

by EverescentlyS



Category: Gossip Girl, Justin Bieber - Fandom, One Direction (Band), The Flash (TV 2014), The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries, grant gustin - Fandom, teen wolf - Fandom, the originals - Fandom, zayn malik - Fandom
Genre: AU, F/M, Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-01
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-25 19:24:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7544929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EverescentlyS/pseuds/EverescentlyS
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Angels, that's what they are in the limelight. But the more you see the less you know and that proves to be exactly the case with the lives of Valentina, Brooke and Sofia. Follow the story of Manhattan's most talked about teens who swim in booze, money and secrets that they can't keep hidden forever. </p><p>(Low key my take on Gossip Girl & ofc inspired by it)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Characters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> List of characters for referral, keep coming back to see if there are any additions since I will be adding as the story continues!

**Character List**

 

**Valencia Family**

1\. Kendall Jenner as _Valentina Valencia_

2\. Monic Belluci as  _Anastasia Valencia_

3\. Rufus Sewell as  _Lorenzo Valencia_

 

**Winslow Family**

1\. Rosie Huntington-Winsley as  _Brooke Winslow_

2\. RJ King as  _Leonardo (Leo) Winslow_

 

**Rosessen Family**

1\. Gigi Hadid as  _Sofia Rosessen_

 

**Elswood Family**

1\. Cody Christian as  _Matthew Elswood_

 

_\-----------------------_

Matthew Terry as  _Daniel Deighton_

 

Zayn Malik as  _Zayn Malik_

 

Grant Gustin as  _Grant Gustin_

 

 


	2. Homecoming

Valentina 

The last time Valentina Valencia had stepped foot on Manhattan soil was when her dad was still alive and her somewhat dysfunctional family of two was in tact. That was about three years ago, when she was only fifteen. In the three years that had passed since, Valentina had been tossed and flung between relatives she never even knew existed. There was Uncle Marcello in Rome, her cousin twice removed Angela in Los Angeles (the only one she'd enjoyed living with out of the three) and finally sweet Grandmother Rosie in Marbella, Spain whom she felt more of a burden than a granddaughter since she couldn't do anything like cook or clean or bake.  And although she loved Spain, she needed to go somewhere that felt like actual home and not like an endless, stretched out vacation. So a week ago, Grandmother Rosie had decided to ship her and her ten suitcases of clothes to Manhattan, New York to live with Aunt Ana. 

So here she was. A driver was waiting for her at the JFK airport with one of those cheesy name signs and he'd taken her bags and told her to follow. All Valentina really wanted was to close her eyes and fly  through time and go back to the last time she'd walked through the same airport gates. To when her dad was the one waiting with flowers and a large teddy bear and not a strange butler with an equally strange name board and no flowers or a cuddly toy. She hugged her sweater closer to herself and willed the voice in the back of her head to stop pouting like a ten year old. She was eighteen. She had to grow up. 

"I've packed your belongings in the car behind us, Miss. Your aunt requested us to drop you off at her apartment right away-" 

"Could we actually stop by somewhere for some coffee?" 

Marbella was exactly six hours ahead of Manhattan and if she had any chance of surviving the rest of the day and making it until her aunt came home from work, a cup of orange juice from the plane ride would not be enough. 

The butler seemed to hesitate for a moment but then he nodded. "Of course, we'll stop at one near the apartment." 

With that, he opened the door of the tinted Range Rover and Valentina slid inside. 

The car smelt like brand new leather and honestly, the whole display of wealth seemed a little too extra for her but she didn't dare comment. Especially not when she'd spent the last seven hours on the plane, tossing and turning. It was first class but the cushioned chairs weren't exactly a bed nor was she in the mood to drift off when all she could think about was her dad and the friends she'd left behind after his death. She wondered about her best friend, Sofia, whom she'd stopped returning calls or writing back to the minute she'd boarded her plane to Rome. And even the stepsister that she would have had, Brooke, who actually never responded to any of her messages to begin with despite the amount of time they'd spent together with their newly engaged parents. Brooke's mother, Lisa, had tried to contact her but Valentina had gone on a New York cleanse when she'd boarded that flight to her uncle's and practically closed off every memory she had of Manhattan and the ones she'd loved here. It was easier that way. Pretending like she never lived her or like she'd never met Brooke, Sofia, Grant- 

"We're here, shall I run in for you?" The butler asked, turning around in his seat. Valentina widened her dark eyes in surprise as she was pulled right out of her thoughts and shoved back into the reality in which she was seated in the tinted car with her carry ons beside her. Were they really here? She must have been a lot more jet lagged than she felt since the car ride from the airport to her aunt's apartment should have taken at least thirty minutes. Those thirty minutes felt more like seconds to her. She blinked at the driver. 

"N-no, I can go in myself." Perhaps the air would be good for her.

"Of course, Miss." 

She stepped out of the Range Rover and onto Upper East Side pavement. It was odd. Again, being here felt unreal. Like a dream. As she looked around, she realized that New York hadn't changed a bit but Valentina had, and in every way. 

"Good afternoon! Welcome to Birch's!" 

The smell of fresh coffee was like a splash of cool water to her face and for the first time since she'd arrived, she felt like she could breathe. 

She managed a smile at the barista and stepped into the line. For a Friday afternoon, the coffee shop was a lot busier than she would expected. But then again this was New York City, the city was always flooding with activity. 

"Val? Valentina?" 

Oh. No. The last thing she needed was a ghost from her past reminding her of everything that'd she'd tried to forget. 

She willed for whoever it was to not call her name out like that again. She was jet-lagged and in desperate need for coffee and an actual bed, if she was going to have to engage in any kind of conversation-

"Val, it's me, Grant." Hands tugged at her sweater and then she was being turned around. 

Grant? 

Her mouth hung agape and her eyes were wide when she met his green gaze. 

"Fuck, it really is you." He breathed and then his long arms were pulling her into his chest and she had no idea what to do but wrap her own around him. 

He was a lot taller than she'd remembered. Body a lot more sturdy underneath the grey sweater. When she'd last saw him, he'd been her lanky best friend who'd spend every Thanksgiving, birthday and Christmas with her, who'd come over when she'd had a fight with Sofia or her boyfriend Matthew. But then Valentina remembered that the last time she'd actually seen him was when she'd left him in the rain, a confession of love on his lips and an apology on her own. 

She shook her head and pulled herself away before the memories she'd fought so hard to box and stow away resurfaced for more than a mere second. 

Valentina pulled away, this time, a smile ready. She'd just have to say hello. That was it. Then she'd grab her coffee and go.

"Hey." She said, his hands fell back to his side and Valentina moved up the line. 

"I didn't know you were back." Grant said. 

"I-I've been traveling for the past few years. I wasn't sure if I was coming back." 

"Are you back for good?" 

The image of the butler packing the second car flashed through her mind and she nodded. 

Grant's eyes lit up and she was suddenly very aware of how forest green his eyes were. She'd never noticed that before. Not when he'd wear those box-like glasses of his every day. 

"You look really good." He complimented while gesturing for her to move up the line. 

She tugged at the soft sleeve of her white sweater and wished that she was invisible. She couldn't do this. Not with Grant. Not when just looking at him made her heart ache because here he was, making small talk and smiling sweetly at her when she'd rejected him then continued to ignore his messages and then eventually packed up and left the country without so much of a farewell. This was not fair and this was incredibly awkward. 

"So do you." 

When he shrugged at the compliment, she butted her hip with his. Something that was more out of habit than what she'd intended to do but it was done and she was smiling up at him sheepishly. 

"I mean it." She said, quieter than she'd wanted to.

Grant stared at her, a smile growing on her lips. 

"Well, I finally had my growth spurt, switched glasses for contacts-" 

"Miss? What can I help you with?" The cashier interrupted Grant and Valentina almost let out a sigh of relief. She didn't know how long she could keep it together without having one of those attacks where she felt like she couldn't breathe and the walls were closing in on her. 

"A vanilla latte please." She said, passing her card to the lady. 

"Anything else?" 

Valentina shook her head, took her card and stepped to the side while Grant ordered his drink. 

"You should come to Brooke's party tonight." 

Her heart literally skipped a beat at the mention of another ghost and Valentina gave the barista a grateful smile when she handed her the warm cup of coffee. This was her ticket out of here and she was going to use it.

"Oh, no. I'm so tired, I don't think-" She started, taking a step towards the door. 

"Everybody will be so happy to see you and it'll just be like the old times-" 

"Oh, no, I'm sorry Grant. It was really nice to see you but I'm really tired and I've got to go."

He was distracted by his name being called by the barista and Valentina took that opportunity to turn and walk in the opposite direction. She didn't want to explain herself. Didn't want to tell him that she'd stopped drinking the day she buried her dad's body. Or that she'd stopped partying since the day his hands fell lifelessly out of hers. She wasn't the same. Perhaps she hadn't changed on the outside, but on the inside, she was no longer that girl who reveled in the popularity and prestige that came with her family name. She was done with it. She wanted so much more than that. 

"Miss." The driver greeted, nodding to her in greeting as she stepped out of the coffee shop.

She didn't feel too bad about leaving Grant like that. After all, he must already hate her because of that night three years ago - what more could another unannounced departure do for that?

"To the apartment now please." Valentina said, taking a sip from her latte. 

***

Valentina had never stepped foot into her aunt's apartment. And for that she was grateful. If she had to go back to the one her and her father had lived in she knew that that would have been it. She would have found a corner somewhere and permanently attached herself to the walls. An apartment she'd never been to before meant a change in scenery, an apartment that she'd lived in would probably still remind her of her dad and would only lead to hours and hours of just staring at the walls, reliving each memory and each step she'd taken inside that one home even if she was trying so hard not to remember moments like those. 

Once her bags were carried into her designated room and the butler had debriefed her on life in the apartment, Valentina was left alone in Aunt Ana's giant penthouse. 

Sighing, she stepped further into the foyer. There was a welcome basket that she could spot sitting on the table and the closer she got to the more she could see what it held. Macaroons, expensive wine and champagne, chocolates- things that she would have eaten and drank gleefully before but now the sight of them just insulted her. She wanted Cheetos and pizza and ice cream - a card caught her eye and her aggravated thoughts immediately halted. Had her aunt really written her a welcome home card? 

Hurriedly and a perhaps a tiny bit excitedly, she opened the elegant card but as soon as she saw the contents of it her hope vanished as quickly as her appetite had. The card read, "welcome home Val, can't wait to see you!" If it was actually handwritten and signed perhaps Valentina would have thought about altering the perspective that she was painting for her aunt but it was typed and most likely written by her busy aunt's assistant and Valentina let the card drop to the floor. The butler, whom she learned was named "Joe" had specifically instructed her to stay in the house for the night especially since her aunt was to come home in half an hour but Valentina wanted to get out of this home and actually explore the parts of New York City that she'd overlooked while her nose was too busy in the air and when her eyes only held love for the glitz and glamour. So ignoring the welcoming basket and Joe's instructions, Valentina grabbed her vintage camera, her purse and the keys to the apartment and fled the empty home, if you could even call it one. 

***

She'd somehow convinced herself that taking the subway would be no big deal but perhaps that would have been true if she had actually taken the subway, but Valentina had never stepped foot, not even once, inside the underground train so as she was being shoved and pushed by her busy New Yorkers, Valentina tried her best not to scream from the claustrophobic feeling of it all. She'd come here with a purpose and with her camera, if she was going to make it to Times Square without Joe alerting her aunt and the rest of the Upper East Side, she needed to find the right train and get on it in time. 

"Will you fucking stop holding up the line?" 

The camera nearly dropped from her hands but before it could hit the ground, she managed to save it with her griping hands. Deep breath in, deep breath out. She told herself. If she could make it through Marbella during tourist season, she could make it through New York's subway. With a determined smile and a firmer grip on the camera, Valentina stepped towards the lady in the little box with the sign that read "ticketing help". 

"Hi, this is my first time in the subway-" 

"Take a cab." The lady snapped.

"Next!" 

The woman was easily fifty, with greying hair and with a telltale slouch that revealed just how long she'd been sitting in the cramped office for. Valentina swallowed the bile that was rising in her throat and pushed on. 

"I just want a ticket to the Times Square." 

The money was taken from her and a ticket replaced it. 

"Thank you." 

The lady barely gave her a glance or acknowledged Valentina's words of gratitude. Instead, with her deep Brooklyn accent, she hollered the same words she had just a second ago. 

"Next!" 

Valentina hurried out of the line before the guy behind her could say anything more rude and cause her to drop anything else that had value to her. Instead, she followed the signs in the stinky station and finally found herself standing at the pick up spot, ticket in hand, her hammering heart in the other. 

You'll be fine. You'll be fine. You'll be fine. 

The sight of smoke from the corner of her eyes nearly gave her a heart attack and Valentina snapped to the left of her to see if she was about to die, stuck inside a stupid subway station or if it was just someone breaking the "no smoking" rules. 

A man, possibly around her age, was leaning against of the brick walls near the stop. He was dressed in all black and the sleeves of his black denim jacket were rolled up to his elbows, putting on the mess of tattoos on both of his arms on display. He didn't look like any of the clean cut guys she knew. He looked like art. And suddenly, her initial fear forgotten, Valentina's fingers were flipping the "on" button on her camera and she was pointing it in his direction. Index finger on the capture button, she waited for him to release the smoke he'd just inhaled. When he did, she pushed down and her camera snapped in response. The man turned to her, eyes wide with surprise. 

Valentina thought he would have just shrugged and carried on doing what he was doing like the rest of the people that had caught her photographing them but instead, this guy, threw his cigarette to the floor and made his way over to her, eyebrows furrowed and mouth pulled into a scowl. 

"Are you fucking crazy?" 

A wave of surprise hit her when she heard his deeply accented voice. He was definitely not from New York, or even America for that matter. 

"What?" She squeaked as he grabbed her camera from her hands. 

"Who fucking takes a picture like that? Are you a bloody journalist or something?" 

She snapped out of her initial surprise and her hands were clasped around her camera, pulling it back towards her. 

"Stop messing with it! You'll damage it!" 

"Delete that picture of me!" He shouted. 

Valentina, for the second time that day, wanted to disappear. Especially when the commotion of this argument was causing several people to turn their heads. New Yorkers, they were mean and extremely nosey. 

"I can't, it's a film camera!" She hissed, pulling on it again. 

He was a lot stronger than she was and with one, forceful tug, the camera disappeared from her grasp and he was holding it above the train tracks. Valentina's eyes widened and she stepped forward but his other arm stopped her from reaching her beloved camera. 

"Delete the picture of me now or I'll throw this down there and we can both watch the train run over it." 

"Are you kidding me? I can't! It's-" 

The horn of the train sounded and Valentina lunged for her camera, grasping the sleeve of his other arm as she desperately tried to reach the last gift her father had given her. If she lost that, she would be completely lost. 

"It's film! Please! You can't!" Her voice was coming out panicky now and she wanted nothing more to stand strong and demand he return it to her but she wasn't strong like that and she was practically crying and her hands were shaky and all she could do was pound on the guy's chest and look like the biggest damsel in the history of damsels in distress. 

"Okay-okay-bloody hell-calm down." 

She watched as his outstretched arm folded and he returned her camera to her hands. Valentina blinked her eyes rapidly and tried not to look as pathetic as she felt with the stranger's dark, somewhat worried eyes on her. 

"Look, please delete the photograph-" 

A burst of anger shot through her and she was screaming at him. 

"Were you fucking not listening? It's a film camera! I can't delete shit until I develop the photograph!" 

How dare he ask her to delete it when she'd practically considered jumping after her camera and onto the train tracks? How dare he even touch her like he just had when she didn't have a clue about who he was? How dare he threaten to take the one thing that she loved most in this world away from her and then pretend like nothing fucking happened? 

The stranger didn't back down the way she thought she would. Instead, he just gave it back to her. 

"I wouldn't have to listen to your bull if you just fucking didn't take the picture! Do you have any idea how rude it is to take a picture of someone who didn't ask you to?" 

The incoming train whooshed beside them and Valentina took a step back. Perhaps he was right. Just because she'd never encountered anyone who had a problem with her taking pictures of them didn't mean it was okay. 

"Come on." He snapped at her while turning to face the train as its doors opened 

What? 

When she didn't move he gave her a glance and somewhat of a smirk. 

"We're going to get that photograph developed." 

***

Perhaps if her dad was around she would have remembered just how dangerous it was to follow strangers onto trains and into weird places in Times Square. But he wasn't and she was equally intrigued as she was aggravated by the guy that had borderline assaulted her just because of some silly photograph of him smoking. 

"I'm Zayn, by the way." He said, leading her into the busiest and brightest part of New York City. 

If it weren't for the flashing billboards and the way her nerves were jittering with the excitement of actually being here, she wouldn't have responded. After all, the guy-Zayn- had literally taken her without so much of a question which she could argue was equally as bad as taking a photograph without permission but instead she offered him a small smile.

"Valentina." 

He was walking beside her, perhaps a step ahead since he was leading her and she was just following. 

"Valentina." He repeated, testing out the name with his tongue. She glanced at him when he did so, the accent made her name sound a hell lot better than it really was. 

"Here." A soft nudge of his elbow and he was guiding her into a dimly lit shop with a cheesy sign that read "Photos R Us". 

"Zayn!" 

Valentina's eyes shot to Zayn's face in surprise when the shopkeeper greeted the dark haired man by name. He glanced at her but then looked towards where his name was called. 

"Hey bro." 

"What are you doing in here for? How have you been?" 

The shopkeeper, who was a man equally coated with tattoos, walked around the cashier counter and towards the two of them. Absentmindedly, she took a step back, Zayn's arm now in front of her as she peered over his shoulder at Zayn's approaching friend. 

"This is Valentina, she wants her photos developed." 

Wants? She nearly repeats out loud. The only thing she wanted was to have a good time outside of the apartment but somehow she managed to get herself sucked into drama over a silly photograph with a guy covered in tattoos. 

"Of course, you want to develop them yourself or-" 

"Myself, please." 

Perhaps that would be the only way to be alone and finally have some peace. The relief and happiness of having made it to Times Square in one piece was over and now all she wanted was to develop Zayn's photo, let him trash it and move on with her adventure alone.

"The darkroom is right through those doors." 

This time, she led the way and Zayn followed. 

"You're coming?" She heard herself ask. 

Zayn gave her a look that said, 'why would I not'? And Valentina slipped into the darkroom. 

The room was basked in a red light. And for the first time since she'd arrived in New York City, Valentina felt whole and at home. She had a room just like this in Marbella. And in Los Angeles. And in Rome. And she couldn't wait to have a room like this in her aunt's apartment. She loved photography. Her dad had too and it was the only part of him that she'd allowed herself to fully remember. 

"You've done this before?" He asked, shrugging off his jacket. Her eyes lingered when more of his tattoos were revealed to her but she caught herself before he could catch her and proceeded to take off her own sweater. It was a lot warmer in here than out there in New York's streets and I was grateful for having decided to wear a crop top underneath the fuzzy white sweater. 

"If I have a film camera, doesn't that mean I have?" 

"You could be one of those posers, just trying to get those follows on social media." 

She scowled at him and he gave her a smile. It was odd since every time she'd cast him a glance in the train or on their way here, he looked sort of brooding. The smile was strange and new but it was a nice kind of strange. 

Oh for fucks sake. She wanted to kick herself. He'd almost thrown her camera onto the train tracks and managed to make her all teary eyed. She was not going to compliment him in anyway, even if it was just inside her head. 

Taking the used film from the camera and adding a new one, she went over to the first station and aligned the one she wanted onto the enlarger. 

They kept quiet while she worked. Him watching and her trying her best not to look up at him to see just how he was looking at her. 

When she moved the photograph into the developer, she heard him move from where he was standing by the door an walk over to wear she was. 

The image of his legs came first. One foot against the wall, the other on the ground. Then came his arms, the ones covered in tattoos that she couldn't even begin to guess what they were there for and why he'd chosen those specific ones. When the rest developed, she couldn't help but hold her breath. The photograph, was great but it was him that made it so. He looked sort of, well, beautiful in a grunge-y kind of way. With his swept and unruly blonde hair and the smoke around his face, dark eyes fixated on the cigarette his hand held out in front of him. He looked like art.

"That's-" 

"Can I keep it?" She was asking it before she could even think about what she was going to say. 

Truth be told, this photograph definitely had to be the best photograph she'd taken so far. She didn't want it to be tossed and the film to be cut out. She loved it. Loved the way he looked like that, sullen and deep in thought. 

"I-" 

"You won't release the picture to the cops?" She glanced up at him and almost laughed when she saw that he was actually being serious. 

"Of course not." 

"Fine." 

"Really?" 

"Only if I get to develop another one of your photos." 

This time she didn't just glance up at him. Instead, she stared. "Are you serious?" 

No one but her had seen her photographs. No one had really even paid attention to them. Not even her cousin Angela who claimed she was a hipster with a infinite love for all things artsy. 

He reached over her, his arms brushing hers while his dark eyes kept to hers. The camera was back in his hands when she looked down to see what he'd grabbed and for a second fear shot through her but then Zayn lifted the camera to his eye and before she knew it, he'd snapped a picture of her. Looking at him with wide eyes. 

"This one." He said, smiling at her the way he did when he'd teased her about being a phony photographer. 

She shook her head at him in disbelief. "Let me take it out before you expose the entire filmstrip." 

Zayn's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and this time she really did laugh. A real, genuine laugh nothing like the ones she'd have to force for her relatives or in front of the new friends she'd made over the past three years. It felt weird. The entire thing felt weird. An hour ago, Zayn had been threatening for her to delete the picture of him but now here he was, making her laugh and taking pictures of her while she felt warm and soft on the inside. 

Perhaps leaving Aunt Ana's had been a mistake. Or maybe it had been the best decision she'd made since she stepped out of the airport. 

"So, why do you like taking pictures?"

"Why do you like getting tattoos?" She countered. 

She could feel the side of her head burning from his gaze. 

"It's my way of expressing myself." 

"Then what does the crossed fingers mean?" She inquired, sneaking a peak at him while putting the photograph he'd just taken of her into the enlarger. When the blank sheet was ready, Zayn grabbed the tongs and put it into the first tray. 

"It's sort of like, for the future. A hope that everything goes well." 

When the photograph began to develop, Zayn and Valentina leaned forward. 

She was wide-eyed in the photo. Like a deer caught in headlights in the middle of the road. But the more the photograph developed, she realized that there was a slight smile on her lips as she looked at Zayn through the camera.

"You look stunning." He said and Valentina forgot all about the photo developing in the liquid and looked up at him in surprise. He was still watching the rest of the picture develop and when he realized she was looking at him with the same wide eyes, Zayn looked up. 

"What?" He asked when his dark eyes met hers. This close and under the redness of the darkroom, Zayn's features looked more chiseled and more like one of those guys from boxer ads that sizzled an entire audience of females. Or maybe it wasn't the red lights, maybe Valentina hadn't noticed because she'd been too engrossed in the fact that a complete stranger had brought her to tears in a public place. 

"Nothing." She managed, grateful for the hue of the light to cover the warmth that was spreading into her cheeks. 

Zayn rolled his eyes. 

"Don't go falling in love with me now." 

Those words jolted her to her core. Her? Love? 

"I'm not!" 

Zayn moved the picture of her into the stopper. Huffing in annoyance.

"This is exhausting, can't believe you think this is a hobby." 

And it was her turn to roll her eyes. How did this guy go from "you look stunning" to insulting her passion in less than five minutes? 

"I'm starved and I've wasted all my time dragging you to Times Square to get a picture of myself deleted only to end up letting you keep it." 

"Well I didn't exactly ask you to bring me here, you could have just left me at the subway." Valentina countered. 

The muscle in Zayn's jaw clenched at her tone but he didn't continue to push her buttons. Valentina wished she could take back every good thought that she had about Zayn. He was a total douche for not only disrespecting her in front of a crowd in the middle of a busy subway station, he had also brought her here practically against her will and-

"Are you hungry? Do you want pizza?" 

What? 

Her stomach answered for her. It must have had a mind of its own because just the word "pizza", it growled, loud enough for the both of them to hear. Zayn chuckled, this time nose scrunching up in such a boyish way that made Valentina forget about whatever mental list she had been creating of why Zayn was annoying and why she should just get out of her while she could. 

"I'll take that as a yes."

*****

Hey! So I got really inspired by this one episode of Gossip Girl and thought I'd sort of do something similar with like the setting & the lifestyle of the characters but otherwise the story will be completely different! I hope you enjoyed and stay tuned for the next chapter - it'll be out tomorrow! 

Xo,   
S


	3. The Affair of B & G

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy!

Brooke

Twenty-fucking-one. That's how old she was going to be today. She would finally be legal to drink - not that being underage had stopped her or her friends - but other than that and most importantly, Brooke could take the company her parent's fought so hard to keep her away from. Winslow. Winslow was hers. Fuck, it was so hers and she was finally allowed to have a share of the profits and the power that came with being its CEO in training. The more that she thought about it, the more she realized just how much more power she would have if she could just possess a little more than the Winslow family name. 

Her phone rang and Brooke stopped perfecting her lipstick to pick it up. Her caller ID read Grant and a small smile pulled her lips upwards. 

Grant was probably the only high schooler she could tolerate without feeling nauseous. She didn't like him, not in that Romeo & Juliette way, but he was entertaining to be with. Innocent and too trusting but she was glad for that. Otherwise he wouldn't have been so easily seduced into her bed even when she had a boyfriend of her own. She guessed that his appeal was his naiveness, that and the amount of girls that fawned over him since that one summer after the ninth grade when he came back looking like some runway male model. Having him made Brooke feel like she had something that others couldn't and she reveled in that feeling. 

"Hey." He said as soon as she'd picked up. 

She twirled a blonde curl around her finger. 

"Grant." She purred. She could just imagine the pink in his cheeks, it always seemed to appear when she used a tone that was a little more suggestive than what he was anticipating. 

"You're not going to believe who I saw at Birch's."

Okay... so he hadn't stopped to clear his throat at her in the way he always did when he felt intimidated. 

"Who?" Brooke allowed herself to ask. 

"Val. Valentina Valencia." 

The curl that she was twirling around her finger, dropped and rejoined the rest of her blonde mane and she stood from where she was sitting in front of her gold vanity. Valentina? 

The name sounded foreign now, it had been what- three years? She hadn't heard from her step-sister-to-be since the funeral and hadn't spared her a thought since then. But why was she here? 

"Why is she back?" She hated that there was a hint of jealousy in her words. 

Grant didn't seem to notice. 

"She's moving back." 

"Oh." 

"Oh? I thought you guys were like sisters or something?" 

She stiffened at his question. The last thing Valentina was to her was a sister. 

"Yeah-oh, Grant, sorry I have to go get ready-" 

"Oh that's fine. Don't worry about it. I'll see you tonight then?" 

She made a kiss-y noise and hung up on him before he could ask anymore questions about Valentina and what she meant to Brooke. 

Sighing, Brooke tossed her cellphone towards the mountain of pillows on her bed and turned back to face the gold framed mirror. She was dressed in a silk robe, the one her boyfriend Daniel had gotten for her on Valentine's day. The white of the silk contrasted perfectly against the gold of her new tan  she'd gotten during her trip to Hawaii which she was quite happy about. She was practically glowing with her long lean legs sun-kissed and hair a naturally lighter shade of blonde. One long look in the mirror and she was certain she looked stunning if not almost goddess-like. The perfect Manhattan princess with the right body and the face to command the title. 

She offered her reflection a small smile. She had nothing to worry about. Valentina Valencia was a forgotten nobody, a fate that the younger Upper East Sider doomed herself to when she left the island without so much of an explanation to neither Grant, her best friend Sofia or even Brooke's mother. The only person she was still relevant to was Grant and the more Grant was around Brooke, the less he would care about Valentina. Brooke would make sure of it.

Truth be told, she had always despised the younger brunette. Her father was an accomplished businessmen like most of their parents but Valentina, three years ago, was practically becoming Upper East Side's very own supermodel with her wave of runway appearances. Making her the most talked about teen not only on the Upper East Side but throughout the whole state of New York. Not that Brooke thought that Valentina had the face for the fashion industry, she had been sixteen and lanky and the only reason why she had so many gigs to fill her portfolio with was because her dad owned the biggest fashion company in the entire state. She also detested the brunette because of her father. If her father hadn't waltzed into Brooke and her mother's life, then her mother wouldn't have fallen in love with him and her parent's wouldn't have had that nasty divorce that caused Brooke and her brother to move in between a series of houses and apartments for a whole year. 

She sighed and let the silk robe fall to her feet. Not that any of that mattered anyway. Her parents had ended up getting back together, despite their constant bickering and she was turning twenty one tonight. A silly little girl from the past couldn't and wouldn't ruin this for her. Besides, if Valentina had disappeared for three years then there had to be reason and that reason would keep her away from Brooke and her world. 

***

She'd dressed in a tight Balmain dress and her blonde hair was styled in loose waves. The club that her mother had booked in Tribeca, the Santos Party House, was already full of her friends and her peers from high school and college. She wanted this. A wild night with everybody that she knew, loved her. 

Grant was the first to greet her when her arrival was announced by the DJ. She was happy to see him of course. But the only reason he was here tonight was because her boyfriend Daniel was out of town and to appear dateless to her own party was beyond pathetic. The dorky high schooler would have to do tonight and if anyone asked, he was just the best friend whom she'd hooked up with because she got a little too drunk. As long as it didn't show up on the front page of some newspaper, nobody would tell Daniel and all would be what it was when she'd wake up the next morning. 

"Babe, happy birthday." Grant said, wrapping his arms around her waist. She squealed into his ear with excitement and gave him a kiss on the cheek. 

The entire club burst into shouts and claps as she let Grant lead her to where the stage was. She barely recognized anybody here but she knew that they all knew her and that was enough. Besides, she had Grant and her other usual crowd. The rest were just space fillers to make for an epic story that the entire young adult population of Manhattan could talk about and if they weren't invited, spend days just wishing that they had made the exclusive list. 

"Alright, alright, let's tone it down." The DJ announced as she climbed the stairs so that she could address her public. 

Grant followed and for a second she wanted to scold him. This was her moment. She didn't want to share with anyone. But then she recalled why she wanted Grant here in the first place and she led both of them to center stage. The DJ, who went by the name of MikeIke, was actually one of the hottest up and coming musicians in Manhattan and as she approached, he handed her the mic. Brooke had practically rehearsed this speech ten times in just the past hour and had spent two weeks just wording it. You didn't get a second chance at moments like this. Either it was a fail or it was a success and Brooke Winslow did only one of those two things and that was succeed. 

"Thank you." She said, smiling to the sea of faces that she couldn't even begin to pin names to. 

There were a couple more seconds of cheering and then they began to die down, anticipating her next words. Ugh. She loved this. She loved being under the spotlight, the reason of adoration - she was born for things like this. She was bred to be admired and talked about and the more time she spent playing the one and only lead role in the story, the more she enjoyed it. Brooke Winslow, twenty-one, with two boys that were to die for around her finger, a family that oozed money and a life that she barely had to work for. She was the epitome of what every girl dreamed for. 

"I just wanted to thank you guys for all coming out tonight-" If this was her birthday speech, what was she going to say when she won one of those awards her parents had pinned on the walls of their offices? 

Her words were greeted with more cheering and cameras flashed in her direction. Brooke stood straighter, sucked in a little bit more and leaned a tad bit deeper into one hip. A bad photo on her special day was not a disaster she was going to let happen. 

"It means the world to me that you all came to celebrate this night with me. And I just -" she paused for effect. She loved that kind of drama. It gave her flare.

"Wanted to say I love you all and I hope you enjoy the night - it's going to be long one." Brooke added, with a carefully practiced wink and a sultry smile. 

The entire crowd exploded into more cheers and shouts of encouragement. She blew a kiss for affect and heard Grant laugh beside her at the reaction of her guests. 

"Hold up, hold up." 

She snapped her head towards MikeIke, surprise evident in her wide, blue eyes. This was not part of the plan. She was just going to say hello and thank you and then leave the stage and get drunk on some expensive liquor and champagne.

"Now, since this a birthday, I think we all need to sing a little something for Miss Brooke over here." 

Her smile didn't falter, in fact, she actually laughed as the crowd began to sing "happy birthday" to her on the count of three. Okay, so it wasn't exactly a disaster and he wasn't going to ruin this.

And then there were a couple of more exclaims and shouts of enthusiasm with fingers pointing at something behind her and for a second she feared that she had spoken to soon and that her friends had decided to embarrass her with projections of her baby pictures and whirled around to see exactly what was going on. Instead, it was her brother, Matthew, Sofia, Lyla, Grant and Zac wheeling in a birthday cake that looked twice as wide and as tall as her. 

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed. 

"Happy birthday Brooke!" 

"Make a wish!" Sofia exclaimed, phone out to record the moment. 

Brooke smiled a genuine smile for her friends. This was it. She was twenty one and everything was going just the way she'd always wanted and imagined since she'd learned that twenty-one was a major milestone. 

She brought her hands together, closing her eyes as she concentrated on her wish. 

I wish to be happy and successful and loved - 

A certain brunette crossed her mind and she squeezed her eyes a little tighter and pressed her hands closer together.

And I wish that Valentina Valencia does not mess anything up for me. 

With that, she opened her eyes and began to blow out all twenty one candles. Laughing when her taller friends had to help with the candles on top of the cake. 

"Alright! Let's get this party started!" 

***

There was exploding champagne, multiple shots of tequila and several servings of margaritas, mojitos and vodka sprites. Brooke knew she was drinking mindlessly but the more she drank the less she cared. This was her birthday party after all, she should be able to do whatever she wants and however she pleases. 

The glass full of mojito slipped from her grasp when she swayed and shattered on the floor. Grant caught her arm, halting her from going after the broken glass. 

"Brooke, you should sit, you've had so much to drink." 

Who was he to tell Brooke what to do? She was not going to have that. Not tonight, not ever. Brooke was not just Brooke, she was Brooke Winslow and nobody, not even her parents could tell her what to do. So Grant and anyone who tries, could go to hell. 

"I'm getting another." She argued and motioned for the waiter. Grant gestured the approaching server to leave. 

"Brooke, please, I mean it. I don't want you to be sick." 

She fumbled in his grasp. She didn't like how he was holding onto her arm, almost as if he holding her back. She was a Winslow, she had to shine. 

"Let me go." She growled and Grant released her, surprise evident in his dark green orbs. 

For a moment, she felt sorry. He was, after all, just trying to help and god knows he'd never really been to parties like this where people got wasted to the point of passing out but if he was going to spend more time with her, then he would have to get used to it. One way or another, he was a part of this lifestyle. He had the exclusive zip code and the clothing to prove it. 

"Come here." She purred, pulling him by the ends of his shirt. 

She couldn't quite comprehend the rate of her thoughts or what they were about but one second she was mad and fully in "independent woman" mode but then in another heartbeat something in her was telling Brooke that it would be a good idea to kiss Grant and show him how much fun parties could be. Perhaps then he would stop worrying so much and actually enjoy it. Come to think of it, he had barely had anything to drink. 

The grip on his shirt loosened as her train of thought took altered its course. Maybe it wasn't a kiss he needed, maybe it was a shot. Scratch that. Maybe Grant needed multiple shots.

"Take three shots with me and then I'll stop." She offered. As expected, he shook his head almost immediately the words "take" and "with me" were uttered. If she was in the mood for games, she would have laughed and teased but she was being drained by his soberness and the faster she could get him drunk the more fun and eventful this night would be. 

"Six tequila shots now please." She hollered at the waitress's that was eyeing Grant a little too much for Brooke's liking. He was hers, even if she wasn't his. 

"Brooke, please-"

"Grant, this is my birthday! And I want to spend it with you, together, and it's only fun when we're both hammered." She whined, half disappointed in herself for not pouting enough and for using her brother's mindless word to describe being drunk. Even though her act hadn't been as charming as she'd imagined, Grant still looked down at her, looked at her blue eyes that were now lined with red veins and smudges of dark eyeliner. 

"Fine." He said and Brooke wrapped her arms around him, lips briefly meeting the skin on his neck that was peeping out just above the collar of his white button down.

The waitress that was ogling Grant returned with a tray and three identical shot glasses filled with the same drinks and accompanied with the usual lime and salt.

"Together and one after another." Brooke demanded, grabbing her drink first. 

Grant shook his head in disbelief but didn't argue.

"One, two, three."

Suppose she had taken the shots. Perhaps then her evening would have turned out the way she hoped and her birthday wish for Valentina not ruining it for would have been granted. 

But before Grant and her could down the alcohol, the projectors which had been showcasing pictures of her and her friends over the past few years were interrupted. A television static in its place. 

"What the-" Grant began as heads turned to figure out why there was a change in lighting. 

The ear splitting sound of the mic getting too close to the speakers caused multiple screams and shouts of complaint and then the music died together all together. The shocked and startled shouts echoing through the club.

The static disappeared and then there was a screenshot of a tweet. There were several gasps around her, the loudest from Sofia and Matthew who had been entangled in each other's embrace just a moment before. Eyes around her widened as they read the tweet, who it was tweeted by and the picture that accompanied the blast. Brooke watched in horror as her carefully placed pieces began to topple against each other and fall apart. This was not how it was supposed to go. This was not  what she had planned. This night was about her and her only. 

"She's back?" 

"Why?"

"Where did she go?"

"Is she coming here?"

"I thought that account was dead..." 

"Did Brooke know?"

All Brooke wanted to do was scream and stomp her feet and pout about this night no longer revolving around her and how the birthday wish was wasted. Before she could do just that and shove this party deeper into the epically failed mess it was, Brooke grabbed Grant by the arm.

"Take me home." She said into his ear, praying he wouldn't argue and push to stay and turn this thing around. He was like that. He saw the good in every person and situation. Ugh. Her mind was swimming in nothing but the alcohol she had downed in the past hour and everything thought would escape her before she could grasp it completely. If she stayed one more second she might end up crying. 

"Okay." He said. And her surprised blue eyes managed to find his. Grant gave her a small smile before wrapping his arm around her waist and helping her to get up and on her feet. One thing you never knew until you stood up was just how much alcohol you drank and how quickly it could deteriorate your basic motor skills. Maybe Grant had been right when he'd told her she'd drunk too much. 

She could feel the eyes on her and she wished the useless MikeIke would say or do something to get this attention off of her. This was not the exit she had in mind or wanted. Actually, and if she had not thought so a million times already in the past few minutes, this whole thing was not what she had in mind or wanted. 

Grant didn't have to do much weaving through the crowd. The sea of faces that she had claimed were initially staring at her in adoration when she had entered were now eyeing her with pity and disappointment. How could one tiny little brunette ruin such a big night? 

She gathered her courage and cast one more look at the screen, just to make sure this was not some kind of cruel prank or some kind of alcohol-induced hallucination and that she wasn't actually being escorted out of her own stupid party. 

It wasn't. 

The name "Manhattan Whisperer" was still in bold. And so were the word's "Hold on to your Valentine's". She turned away so she didn't have to see Valentina Valencia's stupid face. 

This was a disaster. She knew it. Her friends knew it. And now, all of Manhattan would know it in the next hour. 

*****


	4. You Cant Forget About Me

Sofia 

Once Grant had rushed Brooke out of the party, the rest of the crowd dispersed just as quickly. Leaving her, Matthew, Zac, Lyla and Leo to deal with the newly abandoned and trashed club. 

"What the fuck was that?" Leo managed to ask when the dust had settled and the five of them were left behind. 

"Valentina Valencia? Isn't that the girl who's dad died like ages ago?" Zac asked, furrowing his eyebrows together. 

Sofia, for some reason that was unknown to her, wanted to tell him off and explain that losing a parent was never easy but then she remembered just how quickly Valentina had been to throw her and their friendship away so she kept her mouth shut and her eyes down. 

She had been shocked, really. She hadn't heard or seen Valentina in three years and of course, it had been difficult when her best friend whom she'd practically known since the day she'd opened her eyes had left but then as the months went by, Valentina became more and more of a distant memory. Someone she just reckoned she would never see again. 

But the the Manhattan Whisperer's newest blast proved just how wrong she had been. Sofia looked up at the screen behind the DJ'sbbooth again. In the picture, Valentina was wearing an oversized white sweater, a black crop top underneath and blue cut off jeans. She looked good, Sofia thought. The photograph was of her stepping into a tinted car. Coffee in hand and her purse in the other. There was a frown on her face and Sofia couldn't help but wonder how she was doing. Was she over her father's death?

The worried thought was stopped just as soon as it had began. How pathetic could she get? She should be furious at Valentina for not only leaving without notice but showing up without it too. Didn't she care? Weren't they practically family? Their parents had been the best of friends since they were in diapers and her aunt Anastasia was a regular guest at their house whenever the festivities came around. So shouldn't Sofia have been the first to hear of Valentina's return? 

"Did you hear me?" Matthew asked, gently elbowing her on the side. 

Sofia furrowed her eyebrows. No, she hadn't. She had been to engrossed in what had just happened and what she felt to really hear anything that was going on around her. 

"I was just saying that Grant messaged and asked if the three of us could meet up." 

What? 

"Why?" 

Matthew shrugged. "I guess he wants to talk about it." 

Despite the surprise of Grant's timing of the invitation, Sofia knew why he had invited only the two of them out of their usual crowd. The four of them, Grant, Sofia, Matthew and Valentina had actually grown up together. Every holiday before Lorenzo Valentina's tragic passing was spent together but Sofia didn't want to talk let alone think about that right now. She just wanted to forget all of this happened and go home and sleep. 

"I think we should go." Her boyfriend said. 

A wave of doubt rolled through Sofia. Why did Matthew want to go? Perhaps he wanted to go and see Valentina. Maybe they both wanted to go and see her. Grant had practically been in love with her since the day he'd laid eyes on the dark-haired beauty and Valentina was Matthew's ex - maybe they both still loved her. The idea of that actually being the case made her sick and for a moment she considered running out of here in the same way Brooke had.

"You okay?" Matthew asked and Sofia finally looked into his eyes. His blue-grey eyes were darkened with worry and soft with the affection he held for her and all doubt was erased as quickly as it had arrived. No, Matthew was her boyfriend now. They'd been together for almost two years. He must love her if he'd stayed with her for so long sonthere really was no reason for Sofia to feel so insecure with their relationship. She was his and he was hers. Always and forever. The promise echoed in her ears and she smiled at the man who was lightly stroking her arm as he awaited her response. 

"Yeah, just shocked, that's all." 

Matthew shrugged. "Let's just go and see what Grant has to say - maybe us three can decide what to do." 

What to do? Was there something to be done? 

***

There really was no need to discuss where they would meet. Whenever they felt like they needed to hang out or just be the three of them, they would go to the Valencia art studio. It was originally Lorenzo Valencia's bachelor pad but the Valencia patriarch had transformed it into an art studio when Valentina was old enough to hold a paintbrush so since they were five, Sofia, Grant, Valentina and Matthew would gather here. Sometimes behind their parents' backs and with their sleeping bags and bags and bags of snacks. 

When Valentina had left, they had stopped gathering there for a few months but that only made the departure of their closest and oldest friend more painful so the three of them had decided that from time to time, they would hole themselves up in the old art studio and talk and laugh like they used to, surrounded by Valentina's old paintings and sculptures. None of them would admit it but it was the only thing they had left of their brunette friend and all three were holding onto it as long as they could. 

"Do you want stop somewhere and get a few drinks so-" 

"I don't think this is the time for that." Sofia interrupted. This wasn't like before, they weren't going there to hang out and just be themselves. They were going there to discuss their best friends return and what the hell they were supposed to do when, and not if since they obviously ran in all the same circles, they saw her again. 

The car came to a stop and Sofia didn't wait for Matthew to reply. She had thought she missed Valentina but never in a million years did she imagine her friend would actually come back so all she had initially felt was sadness and pity for her friend. Now, after finding out Valentina had arrived just as soundlessly as she had left, all she could feel was anger and betrayal and every time she imagined seeing Valentina's face at one of those boring receptions her parents would drag her to, she saw herself pulling and yanking with all the strength she had at the dark, messy-to-perfection head of hair. 

"The lights are on, Grant must be there already." Matthew said, catching up to her at the doors of the apartment. Sofia nodded at the doorman in greeting before walking through. 

"Sof, what's wrong?" 

When his ignorant question hit her ears, all she could imagine was yanking Matthew's hair out. 

It was only when they were in the elevator and alone, that she turned to her clueless boyfriend. 

"What's wrong?" She echoed in disbelief. 

"Valentina's back from wherever she went, Brooke's birthday was completely ruined and now the three of us are meeting in secret to figure out what to do - tell me, why I should not be freaking out when everything has gone wrong." 

Matthew furrowed his eyebrows at her and she could see the confusion storming in those grey-blue eyes. 

"You're mad because your best friend - our - best friend has come back?" 

She frowned. "And you're not?" 

The elevator rang to signal that they had arrived at the thirtieth floor and Sofia gladly stepped out. She didn't know why but there was this almost choking sense of panic that was rising inside of her. Could she be the only one mad at Valentina for ditching them three years ago? Sure, her dad had died but Valentina had Grant, Matthew and her for support. She didn't have to leave. And if she had, at least she could have given somewhat of an explanation instead of leaving her friends to put the pieces together when she didn't answer calls or show up at school for several weeks. 

The apartment door was unlocked and when she opened the door, Sofia was greeted with the familiar walls covered in stacked canvases that ranged in height and width. A corner of the room was dedicated to all the sculptures and three dimensional pieces Valentina had done and held works that looked like a horribly demented squirrel - an art piece her best friend had sworn was the depiction of her pet rabbit - and those ghat were carefully crafted like the intricate wire sculptures of Lorenzo Valentina's face. The room smelt of paint and if not for the candle, Sofia lit every time they were in here, would probably smell of dust and old metal as well. 

"Hey." Grant was seated on of the bean bags at the center of the room. There were three now but years ago there had been four. Pink for Sofia, red for Grant, blue for Matthew and grey for Valentina. Now there were only pink, red and blue. 

"I called you guys here because I saw her today." 

Sofia, who had been trying to sit down as slowly as possible so she didn't flash the two boys in front of her or rip her tight dress, fumbled at his words and fell onto the bean bag instead. 

"You-you saw her?" She repeated, the possible fate of her five thousand dollar dress forgotten. 

"Where?" Matthew asked before she could. 

"At Birch's. She was in line in front of me." 

"What was she like? Has she changed?"

"Did you guys talk?"

Grant shrugged. "I don't know, there was something off about her. Something different but otherwise she's taller-"

He cleared his throat. "Prettier."

Matthew burst into laughter at that and Sofia rolled her eyes. 

"Is she back for good?"

The lanky brown-haired man that she'd spent more than half of her life with nodded and something - maybe her stomach - dropped and she felt like the room was spinning and if it kept doing so, she knew she'd be sick. It was her second time in the night.

If Valentina was coming back, then so would all the luggage that accompanied her wherever she went. The constant bickering, the nonstop partying, drinking - Sofia's preteen years, mainly from fifteen to sixteen, had revolved around just that thanks to the brunette and although her life still consisted of partying, the drama that came along with Valentina Valencia was on a whole different level. 

"I-I don't know what to say." She admitted, shrugging her shoulders as she looked down at her newly manicured hands.

"Should we all go see her?" Matthew asked and Sofia hoped that the excitement in his voice was some fragment of her imagination, her insecurities playing on her hearing.

"She's probably staying at her aunts, I mean, that's the only relative she has in New York right?"

She didn't know why he bothered asking. He knew damn well that Anastasia Valencia was the only family Valentina had in the big city. 

"We could go and talk to her-"

The anger that had been bubbling burst through her before she could do anything to reel it in.

"WHY DO WE HAVE TO GO AND TALK TO HER?"

The two boys widened their eyes at her outburst but Sofia couldn't bring herself to stop or calm down. 

"In case both of you have forgetting, let me refresh your memory-"

"SHE left US."

"SHE ditched US."

"And she didn't exactly give a flying fuck about how we would feel or bother to even explain."

Sofia pushed herself up. Mind made and refusing to hear anything else on the matter. Sofia Rosessen would not go and beg for Valentina Valencia's friendship. 

"If she wants to apologize, she can come to me. Otherwise, she's dead to me." 

The choice of words made her flinch on the inside and by the look in Grant and Matthew's eyes, they didn't exactly seem pleased about it either but Sofia stood tall and walked back towards the door as gracefully as she could.

They wouldn't blame her for not wanting to see their former best friend. And they couldn't. She was not ready to wave the white flag and welcome home someone who had tossed her aside like last season's handbag. 

The door knob was in her hands and she turned and pulled and stepped back into the hallway. The only reason why she'd even acknowledge the deserter would be to chew her out about what she had done to the three of them. 

When the elevator signaled its arrival, Sofia stepped in. Her reflection in the glass walls of the elevator thoughtful as her anger was replaced by something else. 

Perhaps she would pay a visit to Valentina, if only to tell her off and make Sofia's daydream of yanking the brunettes hair a reality come true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment and tell me what you think?


	5. Why Why Why

**Valentina**

Valentina awoke with a start, gasping quietly. She always did so when a dream felt too real or when she saw the face of her lost one, crying to be brought back, crying for _her._

The room was hot as she pushed the sheets off of her long legs and brought her feet to the floor. Or, what she thought was the floor.

When she stood there was a grunt and then she was plummeting forward, hands flailing as she tried to break her fall. She landed and a pained groan filled her ear and she was pulling away immediately.

When amber eyes met her dark ones, she shook her head in disbelief.

_"Zayn?"_

And then it all came back to her. The darkroom, the Brooklyn pizza that Zayn swore was the best kind of pizza in the whole world and then finally drifting off to sleep on his bed, unfinished stories on her lips as her eyes closed and the sun finally peaked through the brick condos of Zayn's neighborhood.

With her mind groggy with sleep and dreams, Valentina had completely forgotten where she was.

"I'm so sorry." She gushed, pushing herself up and back onto the bed. _His_ bed.

Zayn grunted and pushed himself up onto his elbows. The sheets that had been covering him a moment before, pooled around his waist, revealing his tan and tight upper body. Valentina forced herself to look away before he caught her eyes wondering.

"I completely forgot that you were there." She explained and from the corner of her eyes she could see Zayn grabbing a shirt. She told herself that it wasn't disappointment she was feeling. _She'd just met the guy!_

"No worries, I guess I should have slept on the couch but Harry was still up and I didn't want to be a bother."

_Harry?_

She must have looked confused because he went on, explaining. "My roommate, Harry."

He was off the ground and standing in front of her Valentina finally turned to look at him. Probably not the brightest idea because as soon as she saw him, tall and rugged with his blonde hair in disarray, her jaw nearly fell to the floor. _How could he look even better than he did last night after sleeping on the floor?_

"Do you want some breakfast?" He offered and she had to pinch her arm to keep herself from just staring at him.

"I-I-" She would have loved to. But she was fairly certain that she looked like something the cat dragged in and the last thing she wanted was him seeing her like this over the breakfast table. Besides, if her aunt had come home last night then she would have been worried sick seeing all of Valentina's bags but not the tall brunette. She made a mental note to check her phone for any missed calls or texts as soon as she left Zayn's loft.

"I think I should go." Valentina concluded.

Zayn's smile faltered for a second and she couldn't help but feel relieved. It meant he had enjoyed her company as much as she had.

"Should I help you home? I mean, you said you haven't been here for a while and that you'd never taken the subway."

For a moment she considered calling Joe, the driver that had picked her up from the airport but then he'd probably give her that "told you not to go anywhere" stare followed by something her aunt had asked him to say and that was the last thing she wanted. A sour start after a too-good-to-be-true end.

"Um-"

Zayn sat down on the bed beside her and the mattress dipped under her weight. Valentina looked into those beautiful amber eyes, wondering if he was going to persuade her to stay or to leave with him, she would have been happy with both.

It had been so long since she'd had a real connection with someone. So long since someone _actually_ listened to her and how she felt and to feel that way again, to have an _emotional_ connection with someone, was a feeling that she'd missed.

"Come on, upper east side princess, show me your world."

Perhaps it was a good idea to bring Zayn along. She wouldn't be lonely _and_ she wouldn't be lost.

"Fine." Valentina said, rolling her eyes but smiling at him nonetheless.

***

Phil the doorman gave her a knowing look when she stepped through the Ritz-Carlton doors with yesterday's outfit and a guy tagging along. Valentina fought the urge to tell him off for judging too quickly but her father would have called that "making a scene", something he despised, so she decided not to. Besides, he was just the doorman, what he thought didn't matter to her.

" _This_ is your apartment?" Zayn asked, slowly and in awe as Valentina opened the doors to her aunt's condo with the spare key Joe had given her. She was grateful that she remembered to throw it in her purse before leaving, otherwise, she'd be stranded out here for god knows how long.

"It's my aunt's." Valentina stated.

She hated when people got all wide eyed like that.

Zayn recovered and his amber eyes met Valentina's and she was grateful that his wide eyes and gaping mouth transformed into that easy-going smile that she found herself adoring a little too much.

"You're aunt certainly has good taste."

She laughed.

"Are you hungry? I know I said I didn't want breakfast but the ride here left me starving."

"Subway stress you out that much, huh?"

He scrunched his nose at her, mocking her in the same way he had done when he'd caught her walking towards the wrong station, holding onto the arms of someone that looked very much like Zayn. He had laughed for a good five minutes when she had fumbled with her explanation.

Valentina stuck her tongue out at him and laughed when he shook her head at how childish she was.

"Well, I'm starved too so hopefully your aunt didn't forget the food while she was busy winning interior designer of the year."

Valentina rolled her eyes at his dig but led the way to the kitchen.

When they entered, they found that the smooth, granite island was stocked with just about every breakfast dish you could imagine. Pancakes, waffles, cereals, eggs, bacon - it was covered in a variety of foods. Pitchers of different juices on the side along with a bucket of ice.

"Gee, all for me?" Zayn joked and Valentina handed him a plate.

"Welcome to my world." She joked, gesturing to the piles of foods.

"Mind if I stay a while?" He countered, the plate in his hand as he walked past her and towards the breakfast her aunt had no doubt ordered before leaving for the office.

_Oh. Please do._

***

Three plates of waffles and five glasses of orange juice later, Zayn and Valentina had retired to the living room.

Her eyes were closed as she sat in the couch, reveling in the satisfaction of having eaten her favorite meal in the entire world.

"You know that feeling you get when you eat a whole bunch of food all at once?" Zayn was saying, his accented voice sounded heavenly in this empty apartment.

She felt his head on her lap and, startled, opened her eyes and looked down.

His eyes were shut too, legs stretched over the rest of the couch.

"What feeling?" Valentina asked, deciding that she didn't mind him being this close to her as she laid her head back onto the head rest of the couch and closed her eyes. Her hands, absentmindedly went to Zayn's hair, fingers twisting and twirling the blonde mess. She liked that he didn't mind and she liked how this felt. Her heart was hammering and her stomach was fluttering and it had been _so_ long since she had felt this way.

"Like you're just going to drift off."

Before she could reply, he added. "Or maybe it's just me, I mean, only one of us was waken up by being squashed by a foot."

She burst into giggles as the image of her stepping right onto Zayn's stomach ran through her mind. She had fallen right into his chest then and the fact that it had happened just like one of those moments straight out of a corny romantic film only fueled her laughter.

"You think that's funny, Valencia?"

She nodded, only falling into more giggles as his amber eyes filled with mischief and playfulness. _Ugh_. He looked so good. With everything he did he looked so good.

"Very much, Malik." She teased back.

He was up from her lap and his hands were tickling her sides before she could even think of something even more cunning to say. Her giggles turned into screams of laughter as his fingers dug deeper into her sides. He was laughing as she thrashed, hands around his wrists as she tried her best to escape.

"Z-Zayn!" She yelled, trying her very best to speak a complete word without being interrupted by her own laughter.

"S-stop!"

"Only if you apologize for smashing me in my sleep you Bigfoot!" He exclaimed, hands going further up her side.

She screamed, laughing uncontrollably. The fluttering in her stomach was replaced by pain, the good kind of pain, the one that you only got from laughing too hard and too much.

"FINE!"

"IM SORRY!"

The fingers stilled and _finally_ , Valentina caught her breath. Her smile didn't falter though, it actually grew as she looked up at Zayn who was smiling down the same ridiculous smile at her. He hadn't moved from where he was pinning her to the couch, legs on either side of her narrow hips.

Zayn was about to say something. Lips parting and amber eyes glowing when the door bell rung, interrupting whatever moment they were about to have.

"I should get that." Valentina said, frowning slightly in disappointment. She wanted to hear what he was about to say. The idea of someone interrupting the time that they had, just the two of them, saddened her and only pulled her out of this dream-like state she was in. She hadn't realized but when she was with Zayn, with someone that didn't know _everything_ about her, she felt sort of renewed. The pain of the countless memories that haunted her the second she'd stepped foot into this concrete jungle of a city no longer weighed heavy on her shoulders and heart. Or at least, the loss was slightly lighter.

Zayn moved off of her and onto the couch so that she could stand and Valentina readjusted her sweater, making a mental note to shower and change as soon as she could.

When the bell rang again, Valentina quickened her pace.

"Coming!" She called and in the back of her mind she wondered if it was Phil the doorman. A smile spread over her lips as she imagined herself telling him off for that judgmental look she'd received when she had first walked through the entrance with Zayn.

Before the bell could ring for the third time, Valentina swung the door open.

"Yes?"

A familiar shade of blonde hair matched with an almost cat-like pair of blue-green eyes, the same eyes that had been there since she could remember, watching out for her, crying for her, challenging her-stood on the other side of the door and Valentina's mouth dropped, the girlish smile she just had on her lips wiped clean off her face.

"Sofia?"

Her friend - if she could even call her that - was dressed in a matching nude cropped sweatshirt and shorts, the band of a black sports bra peeping just underneath the line of the cropped hoodie. Her hair was longer than Valentina remembered and her friend had grown significantly in the last three years. Valentina had always been the taller out of the two but now her friend stood at an equal height.

"Who is it?" Zayn asked, coming up behind her.

Sofia's eyes, which had pinned Valentina to the spot the moment she'd laid eyes on the brunette now passed onto Zayn. Valentina could see that Sofia was scanning him, in the usual way it did whenever she encountered a new person and pondered whether they were worth or not for her attention. The blue-green eyes took in his all-black ensemble, her eyes traveling over the arms and hands that were covered in tattoos.

When she was done judging Valentina's company, Sofia turned her head back to her. Her eyes cold and her lips almost pulled down into a scowl.

"I came to see you." Her former best friend explained, words short and chipped like cubes of ice.

Valentina glanced at Zayn, dark brown eyes meeting his amber ones. The last thing she wanted was Zayn witnessing whatever storm Sofia was about to hit her with.

One more glance at the unexpected guest and Valentina made up her mind.

If she knew anything about Sofia, she knew that she had come her to pick a fight and to probably yell at her until Valentina yelled back and that was certainly something Zayn didn't have to be here to see. She had told him stories about her past but nothing that had shed the wrong kind of light on her. Knowing Sofia, she was a lose canon that could hurl anything from her past at her, it was best if Zayn left.

"I think you should go." Valentina said.

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion and she wished she could explain why he couldn't meet Sofia and why he couldn't find out about her past but Valentina had decided - about two seconds ago to be exact - that she _liked_ Zayn. _Genuinely_ , liked him and she didn't want anything to ruin that.

"I'm sorry." She offered.

Zayn nodded and pulled her into a hug. She wished Sofia wasn't there, standing in the doorway so that she could properly enjoy this moment. Enjoy the feeling of his arms around her waist, the smell of his cologne but Sofia _was_ here and she _was_ watching so Valentina pulled away as quickly as she could, a promise of a call on her lips as she stepped out of the way so that Zayn could leave.

"See you." The man that she had spent that last fifteen hours with said to, what Valentina would call the ghost from her past.

The blonde, not waiting for an invitation neither acknowledging the farewell, stepped past Zayn and into the apartment and Valentina, reluctantly, closed the doors so that they were alone.

She crossed her arms over her chest, anxiety building as she realized that she would have to face this situation head on. With nobody here and no doors to escape through, Valentina was trapped.

But she reckoned the faster that Sofia had said what she wanted to say, the sooner the blonde would leave so taking in a shaking breath, Valentina looked at her former best friend/almost sister.

"Why did you come?" She asked.

"Why do you think?" The blonde spat and mirrored Valentina's actions, crossing her own thin arms across her chest.

"Look, I don't want to fight and I really don't know what to say, so please, say what you want to say and go."

Valentina fidgeted with the sleeves of her white sweater. She hated how harsh that had come out, _"say what you want to say and go?"_ She hadn't seen or talked to Sofia in three years and that was all she could manage?

"What the _hell_ , Val?" Sofia exclaimed, ready to call her out on her words.

"You leave, without so much of an explanation and all you have to say to me is 'get out'?" The blonde snarled and Valentina took a step back, almost as if she had been physically hit.

Normally, her own temper would flare and she would match Sofia's ferociousness but she didn't have the energy for this. She didn't have the fight in her to argue back or to even apologize anymore. Just standing in the same room with Sofia made her head spin and her heart ache painfully as memories of what her life had been before her dad passed away filled her mind.

"I can't, Sofia, I can't explain. And I don't expect for you to understand but I really, I really just can't do this anymore."

"You broke all our hearts when you left." Sofia said, quieter this time and Valentina finally raised her eyes from the floor to look at her.

The blue-green eyes had melted from the frost-like state they had been when the brunette had first answered the door but they were still hard and distant.

"You broke Matthew's heart, you broke Grant's and you broke mine."

"And you just want me accept the fact that you can't explain?"

Sofia and Valentina had constantly fought when they were best friends. But it was a part of their friendship, they would be pulling at each other's hair one hour and then braiding it the next. Her dad had tried to help them in the beginning, playing messenger along with Grant and Matthew so they could smooth out whatever the problem was with the two preteens but her dad wasn't here now and fighting with Sofia only reminded her of that loss.

"My dad died, Sof, what else is there to explain?"

She hated that her eyes were already threatening to spill the tears that Valentina promised to herself she would not waste time with. She had managed not to cry for a whole two years and that was progress. Despite those two years being occupied with denial, she wouldn't cry now, she wouldn't dare.

Something in Sofia's voice changed, her tone softening and lowering.

"It's been three years, Val, you have to move on with your life."

And that was it. Like a rubber band that had been stretched for too long and too wide, Valentina snapped. Her internal comment about being too tired to fight forgotten as her arms fell to her sides, fists balling as she took a step toward the blonde who dared tell her she had to move on. _Sofia_ wasn't the one who lost a father. _Sofia_ wasn't the one who had a mom who'd run out on both her and her dad. _Sofia_ wasn't moving every year because none of her relatives could get her to open up or laugh or be happy for once. 

"You're not the one who lost everything!" Valentina shouted. 

Her friend didn't back down, instead her stance mirrored hers as she too, switched to offense. "You didn't lose everything! You had your friends, your family-" 

"What _family?_ You mean the ones that have been tossing me around for the past three years?" 

The shocked expression on Sofia's features only urged Valentina on. 

"You have no idea what you're talking about and you have no idea what _I've_  been through since my dad fucking _died_ so instead of storming into my apartment, uninvited and telling me to move on, go mind your own business and stay _away_!" 

Her words echoed off the walls, the silence that it had caused now eating her up as she registered what she had said in her mind. 

She hated how Sofia's narrowed eyes became all wide and teary in that pause. She hadn't meant to make her friend cry. She hadn't _meant_ to hurt her. 

But Sofia really had no idea what Valentina had gone through and how she felt so it wasn't fair for her to stand here and look at her in that condescending way and talk about moving on when she had a happy little family of her own to go to every single day. Valentina had no one. And she hadn't had _anyone_  for a long time. 

"What happened to you?" Sofia spat, taking a step back. 

"You and I, we were like sisters! I knew everything about you, you told me everything you were thinking, feeling - how did you get _so_ lost?"

"What would your dad think if he saw you now?"

Valentina stormed past her friend and to the door. 

"Get out." She spat at the blonde. 

Telling her to move on was one thing and Valentina, for a moment, had felt sorry about her outburst and about telling her to stay away but then Sofia had gone and pulled the 'what would your dad think' card and all Valentina could see was the color red and all she could manage to do without crying in anger or cussing her former friend out at the top of her lungs for the entire building to hear was to kick the blonde out. 

"I'm _not_  going to forgive you for this." Sofia growled. 

And Valentina wanted to roll her eyes. She wasn't going to be begging for forgiveness anytime soon or at all, for that matter.

As soon as the last bit of her blonde former-best-friend-turned-enemy was out of the door, Valentina slammed the dark wood as hard as she could. 

Her body was tense and her heart was pounding and for a second she was glad that she had finally managed to get Sofia to leave her alone but then she realized she _was_  alone. Utterly and infinitely alone and that feeling made her crumple to the ground. Knees hitting the hard granite floor as her heart shattered from strain that she had just undergone and from having to talk about her dad and from having to even think about what her dad would say if he saw her now. 

The promise to not shed a tear on Manhattan ground was broken and before she knew it, Valentina was sobbing. And not the kind of crying that kind of looked beautiful in a tragic way but the kind of crying that made your chest hurt from heaving to much and your face red and your nose stuffy. 

Why in the world had she agreed to come back here? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please tell me what you think so far in the comments?


	6. It Has to Be Only Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thought that I would do the thing in the gossip girl books where there are some blogposts at the start or end of it chapter, indicating the different character's whereabouts. But of course i'm kind of adding my own twist to it since Manhattan Whisperer is a twitter account so they'll be tweets instead of blog posts - enjoy!

Manhattan Whisperer:  9 05 followers

Spottings: 

@manhattanwhisperer: a tattooed, dark haired nobody exiting the Ritz-Carlton aka a certain Valencia heir's apartment followed by an angry S - wonder why she's got her panties in a twist?

@manhattanwhisperer: G & M smiling and laughing at lacrosse practice, about time bros before hoes finally came into play

@manhattanwhisperer: still no sign of B after that disaster of a party last night - thank god I crashed it, things were getting a little dull  

\-----------------------------------------

**Brooke**

She knew that it was way past noon when she finally blinked open her eyes. Despite her curtains being drawn and the lack of light in her room, she knew that she'd overslept and nobody had dared to wake her up after the night before. 

For a brief second, Brooke wondered if she'd just dreamed it all. Dreamed that her party had been ruined by a Manhattan Whisperer blast and that she hadn't cried about a third of the night into her pillows when Grant finally left her alone. 

Her eyes were swollen and they ached but Brooke didn't move a muscle. She just stayed under her blankets, staring at her ceiling and wondering what happened while she had shut herself in her room and pretended nobody but her existed.

She wondered if her mom had bothered to check on her while she'd been sleeping or if Grant came by to see if he could comfort her -

Rustling in the corner of her eye made her jolt in her bed, head turning towards the sound. She would have probably screamed, if her eyes didn't recognize the dark, slicked back hair, the prominent eyebrows and the chiseled jaw.  _Daniel._ It was just Daniel. 

Her boyfriend of a year had fallen asleep on the chair, head tilting bag and mouth slightly open as he breathed in and out, not loud enough for it to be a snore but loud enough for her to hear. It was weird seeing him here. She usually saw Grant more often in that chair that she did Daniel but she had missed him tremendously all the same. He  _was_ truly a piece of art. He could have been a model for all she knew, with his long legs and toned body and a face that could easily belong to one of the Greek gods. He would have been enough for her, Brooke could have been easily happy with him and  _only_ him if he wasn't so busy and out of the city most of the year. Gifts were always welcome but they couldn't replace the touch of skin, the pressing of lips, the melding of bodies. 

As if, sensing her watching him, Daniel's dark eyes blinked open and he readjusted himself in the chair. His dark eyes scanned the room before meeting hers, widening ever so slightly when he realized that she was awake and staring right back.

"You're awake." Daniel said, pushing himself off the chair so that he could join her on the bed. A smile was on his full lips and Brooke, however traumatized she was by last night's events returned the friendly expression. 

His knees were the first to descend on the mattress, followed by his hands which he used to crawl up to her. She gazed up at him, taking in his beautiful dark complexion, the heavenly sculpted bones - her hands raised to his arms, feeling the muscle there. 

Daniel leaned forward, body pressing against hers as he lowered his lips and his body on hers. The kiss was short but it held promise for more so Brooke didn't whine in disapproval.

"I missed you." Daniel said, stroking a stray strand of blonde hair away from her face and back to the others that were cascading over her pillows and over her bare shoulders.

"And I you, Daniel Deighton."

She thought he would have leaned in for another kiss and couldn't help but pout when he didn't. She wanted to feel closer to him, she wanted him to help her forget about the last twenty four hours. 

"What happened last night? Your mother called me when I arrived at the -"

She was pushing him off her before he could even finish his sentence. He fell to her side on the bed and she sank further into the sheets. 

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Babe." He pleaded. Daniel's arms wrapped around her waist as he pulled her closer to him and into his broad chest.

"Look, I'm sorry I wasn't there, you know I wish I was but I swear I'll make it up to you." 

"I got you some presents from Paris and-"

She was sick of being bought with presents and expensive things when all she wanted was his company. She loved him. She knew she loved him. But as much as she loved him she couldn't bear the distance and that was why she had Grant. 

"I don't want presents right now." She said, softly. 

All she wanted was to feel him on her again. And she  _especially_  didn't want to explain whatever happened at her birthday the previous night. 

"What  _do_  you want?"

Brooke shot Daniel an incredulous look, he'd spent a month away from her and he's asking  _what_  she wanted? But then those full lips of his pulled up in a knowing smile and he dipped his head and pressed his mouth on hers, successfully shutting up her internal monologue.

What he was doing was slow and gentle. And she hated it. She wanted something that would erase yesterday. 

So Brooke rolled him over, sheets falling from her body and revealing the red lace bra that she'd gotten only for a birthday occasion but Daniel was here and his eyes were widening at the sight of her chest and she didn't have to do much to speed things up. 

His black shirt had been thrown across the room, his jeans tugged down by her needy hands. The kiss that had been loving and soft was now rough and infused with desire and desire only. 

She hoped her parents weren't home. She hoped for their sake that they weren't around to hear the moans that were slipping through her lips as Daniel finally pushed into her, stretching her out and hitting the spot that made her vision blur.

He groaned underneath her and she rolled her hips in response. 

When she became adjusted to his size and length, Daniel took both of her wrists in one hand and the small of her back in the other and flipped them over, creating more friction and making her gasp from the line of pleasure that shot right through her. 

"Daniel." She pleaded, urging him to move, urging him to send that wave through her again. 

He pinned her down by both hands and body and she writhed underneath him as his hips picked up the pace. 

At this point, while he was getting faster and she was getting louder, Brooke found it hard to focus on anything  _but_  Daniel. Even the memory of Grant was erased as her boyfriend's hot breath melded with hers, as his body took hers to the ultimate high.

"Daniel!" She gasped as his last thrust carried her over and her nails dug into his back.

She felt the full of his weight when he was done and his panting breath was in her ear and his chest was moving up and down in sync with hers.

"I love you." She whispered, just for him and him alone to hear.

She felt his lips press against her neck, followed by a, "And I love you." 

***

Her maid, Nadia, knocked on the door when both her and Daniel were finally settled on her bed, naked bodies wrapped around each other as they basked in the after glow.

"Sofia's here to see you." She said, knocking on the closed door.

Brooke wanted to tell Nadia to send her blonde friend away and to say that she shouldn't even be interrupted for the rest of the day so she could roll around with Daniel but Sofia was one of her closest friends and, besides, she wanted to know what she'd missed while she'd been holing up in her room.

"I'll be downstairs - with your presents and breakfast." Daniel said, pushing away the covers and grabbing his clothes from the floor.

"Send her up!" Brooke told her maid. 

She grabbed her silk robe that was on the ground beside her bed and waved her boyfriend goodbye as he opened the door, sidestepping a surprised Sofia.

When Sofia entered her room, she was holding a box of Godiva and Brooke was instantly smiling and getting up to embrace her friend. Sex from Daniel and chocolate from her best friend, maybe she could get over this birthday thing over all.

"I have no idea why you have Grant when you get to bang  _that_." Sofia said, rolling her eyes as Brooke pulled her friend into a hug.

"You'll want a Grant too if Matthew leaves you needy and only comes once a month." 

She supposed she should feel guilty for talking about cheating on your significant other as if it was no big deal but Brooke had come to terms with it a while ago and, besides, Grant never asked for a relationship with her so it wasn't like she was cheating on them both.

"How are you?" Sofia asked, letting her take the chocolates.

Brooke grabbed her phone, pressed the power button and then began working on the box's wrapping.

"Cried my eyes out but feeling better than I did - what happened after I left? Wait - don't tell me, I don't want to know." 

But she did. She was just afraid that whatever Sofia had to say would ruin the state of contentment she   
was in at the moment.

Her phone buzzed with new messages when it had restarted so while she popped a chocolate in her mouth and offered one to Sofia who was now seated across from her on the bed, she scanned through the notifications.

Most were from Daniel, telling her that he was coming over, a few from her mother, one from her dad and post notifications from Manhattan Whisperer. 

"Well, everyone left and the rest of us got some people to clean up."

Brooke nodded, taking another chocolate while clicking on Manhattan Whisperer's profile to read the anonymous tweets. There were three new ones but only one stood out. 

_a tattooed, dark haired nobody exiting the Ritz-Carlton aka a certain Valencia heir's apartment followed by an angry S - wonder why she's got her panties in a twist?_

Brooke dropped the chocolate that she was about to put in her mouth, her blue eyes hardening as she looked away from her phone and at her friend.

"You went to see  _her_?"

Sofia's blue-green eyes widened in surprise. "What?"

"Manhattan Whisperer tweeted a picture of you leaving Valentina's house -"

She locked her phone and cast it aside before crossing her arms over her chest. 

 _How dare Sofia?_ Brooke's birthday had been ruined by Valentina's unannounced arrival and Sofia, instead of checking in on her first thing, got up and went to see the stuck up,  _wannabe_  model? 

"B, don't be mad, I only went to see what she looked like."

Brooke's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.  _What? A picture wasn't enough?_

"To be honest, she looked quite horrible. Too skinny and all droopy, she had bags _\- actual_ bags - under her eyes and she started crying like a baby as soon as I left."

Valentina? Crying? 

Curiosity got the better of her and Brooke let the sting of betrayal she had felt when she'd seen MW's tweet pass.

"What did you say to her?"

Had they made up? Sofia's annoyed tone certainly didn't imply so and the older blonde was happy for it. If she lost Sofia to Valentina, she wasn't sure what she would do. Sofia had become her closest friend, her confidante. She and she alone knew everything and anything Brooke had done and was the only one she trusted to speak freely in front of. And Sofia was the only one who was as equally as bitchy and manipulative as her, Brooke would have been furious if she'd lost her partner in crime to that brunette her mother and every guy she met seemed so fond of. 

"Just yelled at her to stay away - honestly, she was weak and miserable and I might have felt bad for her if it wasn't for yesterday's blast."

Sofia rolled her eyes in annoyance while taking another chocolate.

"Are you worried?"

Sofia frowned. "Why should I be?"

"Matthew? Weren't they together at some point?"

Brooke saw the flash of fear in her friend's eyes and immediately regretted asking. If Sofia hadn't thought it already then it would mean that Brooke had planted a seed of paranoia and that was the last thing she wanted to do. 

"He doesn't feel that way about her." Sofia said softly, nibbling on the rich chocolate.

"Hey-" she grabbed her friend's hand. 

"You and Matthew have been together for almost two years now, you have nothing to worry about and I'm sure she -"

The older blonde paused, thoughtful. "Wait, does she know?"

If Valentina didn't know and she was as vulnerable and weak as Sofia said she was then maybe not knowing would be a good thing. Her finding out that her two closest friends were together and didn't need her would certainly hurt her and although the leggy brunette hadn't done anything to Brooke intentionally, she  _was_  the cause of her birthday disaster so it was only fair that Valentina suffered to some degree and Brooke was perfectly okay with the one delivering that pain. To her it seemed perfectly justified.

"No, if she does, she didn't say anything."

Before Brooke could hatch a plan, Sofia said, "and there's one other thing. When I went to her place, there was a guy leaving-"

 _a tattooed, dark haired nobody exiting the Ritz-Carlton_ _,_ MW had said.

"She was pretty quick to make him leave when she saw me so I feel like she's hiding her past-"

"I have the perfect idea." Brooke said.

"You want to get rid of her?" Sofia asked, taking another chocolate. Brooke made a mental note to stop her the next time she reached for the Godiva box, three was plenty and Brooke hated to share. 

"Well, she  _did_  just cause MW's resurrection and we all know what happens when they start tweeting."

"And she ruined my birthday and could quite possibly home wreck your relationship with Matthew."

A scowl formed on her best friend's lips as she said that. 

"What do you suggest?"

_Wasn't it obvious?_

In Brooke's mind it was almost too easy but it always was when it came to somebody trying to keep secrets. If Valentina was attempting to keep her new life, the tattooed nobody included, away from the limelight  _and_ her past then Brooke and Sofia had only to do one thing. They just had to expose her for the bitch she was and Valentina would go running for the hills and this time, hopefully, the Valencia heir would stay away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed!


	7. And I Keep Running

Manhattan Whisperer: 1,003 followers

Spottings:

@manhattanwhisperer: V exiting the Ritz-Carlton dressed in a skin-tight ensemble - is that a nipple piercing I see? Maybe tattooed nobody and V have more things in common than I thought....

@manhattanwhisperer: M showered and clean after lacrosse practice and off to work, wonder how V will take it when she finds out he's been working for her aunt...

@manhattanwhisperer: S entering B's building, is she alive S? Tell her I'm not sorry ;)

\---------------------------------------

**Valentina**

She'd found the note her aunt had left her by mistake when trying to find a napkin to wipe off the fall out mascara after a good hour of chest-wrenching crying.

_Meet me at my office for lunch, important things to discuss - Love, your Aunt_

This time, the card had been hand written and signed so Valentina had no choice but to pick herself up from where she was slouched on one of the kitchen island's bar stools and drag her suddenly heavy body to the shower so she could appear decent and alive in front of her aunt despite feeling everything but so.

Half an hour later it was already past noon and Valentina had to slip on the first thing she could find, which happened to be her flesh-toned thigh length dress and her white adidas sneakers. If she'd stayed to style her hair she would be late by another twenty minutes so Valentina pulled her dark mane into a messy bun, grabbed her favorite shades and left the apartment in a whirlwind of hair and Chanel perfume.

***

Joe was waiting with the car when she left the building, giving her a small nod in greeting as he opened the dark doors of the same all black, tinted Range Rover, he'd picked her up in yesterday.

She didn't have to tell him where to go, he seemed to know just exactly where Valentina had to be so instead of waiting for direction, Joe pulled the car out of the temporary parking spot and joined the rest of the Manhattan traffic.

There was no conversation so Valentina sat, with her hands in her lap, her lips between her teeth and eyes to the window as she watched the pedestrians, cars and buildings pass by her. She tried not to think of her fight with Sofia but the blonde's words were replaying over and over in her mind.

_"You broke all ours hearts."_

Had she? She knew when she left that her friends would perhaps be sad that she'd left without saying goodbye but Matthew and her had broken up before her father's funeral, Sofia and her had fought about it and Grant, she'd left rejected and in the rain so Valentina had told herself that her friends wouldn't be too heartbroken without her.

_"How did you get so lost?"_

Was she lost? She couldn't remember what she was like three years ago. She could remember the smoking, the drinking, the partying but she couldn't remember what she was actually like. Was that what "lost" meant?

_"What would your dad think if he saw you now?"_

The sound of those last words hitting the air and piercing her heart would be forever etched into memory. What would her dad think? She had given up her previous glamour girl life for him. Had promised him not to drink, not to smoke - and she had kept her promise hadn't she? So wouldn't her dad be happy if he could feel anything while buried six feet underneath that white barked, lilac flowered - she felt her heart pull as her mind walked down that path. She couldn't show up to the Valencia office a mess.

She was fixing her hair when Joe opened the car door and helped her step out. On the sidewalk and in front of the building she had spent more than half her life running through the halls of and being of nuisance to the staff, Valentina gazed at the Valencia headquarters, neck tilted slightly as she took in its magnificent glass windows, it's silver revolving doors, the men and women streaming out of it in a fury.

"Your aunt's not in the office." Joe told her and Valentina realized the driver had been on the phone while she'd been gawking at the center of her father's empire.

"She still wants to meet and wants you to wait in her office."

"Do you need help finding your way?"

Valentina shook her head. "Thank you."

The older man nodded and closed the passenger door that she'd slid out of and walked to the driver's seat.

"Call me when you're ready to leave."

At the word "call", her mind snapped back to a moment earlier in the day when she had, without explanation, kicked Zayn out of her apartment. Fishing her iPhone out her small purse, she dialed the digits he'd put in when he's found her attached to the stranger's arm on the way back to her apartment. Valentina's lips couldn't help but smile as her mind replayed that image of him, with a shy small smile as he grabbed her phone and dialed himself, the words "just in case" falling from his lips as she apologized for getting lost.

She'd said, "I'll call you" when he'd left and she had no intention of breaking her word. Truth was, Valentina would very much appreciate to hear his voice midst this crazy that she'd stepped into the second Sofia had walked in. Seeing Grant, Sofia and now walking into a building her dad basically owned and breathed would be like forcing your hand against the hot side of an iron. It would burn her, her heart, her soul to be surrounded by so much that reminded him of her but had no choice. Her aunt had said this was important so Valentina would walk through those revolving doors, head held high and memories closed off and she would make it to her dad's old office and sit through a meeting with her aunt and then she would make a run for it and go to Brooklyn. The last part she hadn't exactly meant to think nor plan for but once her train of thought took her there it was decided and she waited for Zayn to pick up.

He picked up on the second ring.

"Hey."

Hey. She let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. His accent was still foreign to her ear but she welcomed the sound. Welcomed him.

"You picked up." She said, looking down at her shoes and then at the revolving doors.

"You called." Zayn said. And she could practically see that boyish smile on his lips.

When did she start gushing over just two words?

"I said I would."

Valentina cast on more look at the revolving doors and decided her aunt could wait, besides, she wasn't in the office anyway.

"You hungry?"

"Don't you have work?" She hadn't meant to give him an excuse to retract his offer but Zayn had told her last night that he worked as a bartender at a lounge in Brooklyn and that he needed the body he could get from that so the last thing she wanted was to stand in his way.

"I get off early tonight, you want some Chinese tonight?"

"Of course."

"I'll meet you at your lounge." She added, nerves already shooting down her body as she imagined seeing him again. Being in the same room again, feeling his arms around - she slammed that internal narrative as fast as she could. Ugh. She hated how the more she thought of Zayn the more her control began to slip. She was Valentina Valencia. Guys chased her, not the other way around. What made Zayn so different?

She knew the answer. She knew that it was because he juxtaposed everything she had grown up with, he was just so different. So intriguing with his foreign accent and his amber eyes and countless tattoos. She'd never met anyone like him - that was for sure. But Valentina knew that it was a lot more than a pretty face and a lifestyle difference that attracted her to him. It was the easiness, the ability to say exactly what she felt and it as the genuine, raw, connection she'd felt the previous night, laughing and sharing stories over a box of cheese pizza and a bottle of her favorite soda, which, coincidentally had been his favorite too.

"...text you the address."

She blinked a couple of times. Realizing that the idea of him had completely pulled her away from reality.

"Okay."

"Can't wait." Her mouth blurted.

"See you, love."

And then the line was dead but even with the call ended her mind was reeling and her heart was soaring and she was repeating those last three word ax "see you love" - _love!_

With a stupid smile on her face, Valentina, with a burst of newfound joy, turned on her heel and began the walk to those doors. The ones that revolved. The part of her that had an infinite love for supernatural movies and books, played with the idea that if she walked in those doors long enough in the opposite direction, perhaps time would be spun back and she would go back to when her father had held her hand led her through those doors. To that Friday before that urgent meeting in New Jersey and she could stop him before-

She hated when she did this. Hated it how her mind could take her joy and completely reverse it. One second she had been high off of her call with Zayn and the plans she'd made with him and then she was talking about time travel and saving her dad and feeling more guilty than she should have. It wasn't my fault.

She didn't know how many times she'd said that in the past three years but deep down she knew that it didn't matter. Some part of Valentina would always feel the guilt, expect the blame.

She was at the edge of the revolving doors, absentmindedly watching the workers slip in and slip out. Had they changed the layout while she'd gone? Redecorated? If she saw a giant portrait of her father on the first wall she saw she would for sure, without a doubt, turn and run. To hell with her aunt and her important meeting.

But by chance as she was trying to muster the courage to enter, a pair of blue-grey eyes met hers. Matthew.

You would think, third times the charm, and expect Valentina not to gape and freeze in that way she did when she'd first seen Grant or Sofia but as those blue-grey eyes moved towards her, entering the sun and transforming into a shade of blue-green, Valentina stayed glued to the spot. For the third time in the last twenty four hours, she didn't know what to say.

"Hey." He said, eyes on hers and barely a foot away.

She felt dizzy just at the sight of another person from her past that she had, initially, no intention in seeing.

"Hey." Valentina managed.

She glanced back at the doors, at the large silver letters that spelt "Valencia".

"What are you doing here?"

  
There was, in his now blue-green orbs, a hint of surprise. No doubt alarmed by her straightforwardness, her unwelcoming stare.

"I work here." Matthew shrugged as if it wasn't news to her.

"Oh...why?"

Unless her aunt had extended the family business or his family had theirs, she was pretty certain that the Elswood's stuck to all things politics. The last thing his father would have wanted was to see his son working for a high fashion brand.

"Long story-" he glanced at his watch, a silver Rolex.

"I'm on a lunch break, do you want to grab a bite?"

She should have said no and she most definitely would have if it wasn't for her grumbling stomach that really didn't care who she was with. Just now and the previous night with Zayn, it had complained without warning and despite fearing the company of a ghost from her past and the memories it could trigger, the idea of walking away from this building and for a meal, even if it was with her ex boyfriend Matthew, enticed her and her starving stomach. So she nodded, earning a smile from the brunette and blue-grey eyed boy.

"Give me a hug, you hag, it's been too long."

She almost laughed. Matthew always had done that for her. He always knew how to make situations less awkward.

He enveloped her in a great big hug and Valentina could feel the muscles inside his black jacket and white shirt contracting and retracting with the movement. He'd always been taller than her so she hadn't been surprised to see that he still was. But she was surprised by how much muscle he'd packed on throughout the years.

"Let's go to a Panera bread down the street. I really want a sandwich."

***

For some reason, it was different with Matthew. Maybe because he didn't press about the three years that she had disappeared for. Maybe it was because he was doing most of the talking and she was just sitting there sipping on raspberry iced tea and munching on her greek salad.

"My dad actually hooked me up with a job at your aunt's. It took a lot of convincing though."

"I can imagine."

"It was sort of like when you told your dad you wanted to be an artist instead of a businesswoman."

She almost choked at the words "your dad". But before her mind could delve into that day when she'd defied her father and his expectations for her, Matthew swept on. She wondered if he'd seen the flash of pain in her eyes. Nobody else seemed to when they mentioned her father.

"Took a whole week of promising that this was just something I wanted to explore. And even then he was grumbling about having my head in the clouds-"

"He's still set on you being mayor of New York?"

Matthew laughed, nodding as he took another bite from his sandwich.

"Ever since I won student government president last year, his eyes have been set on the White House. He wants me to be a senator."

Valentina wasn't surprised. Matthew always had a way with people, a way with words.

"What about you? What are you going to be doing?"

She shrugged. She honestly didn't know anymore. She hadn't lifted a paint brush since the day of the funeral and she certainly hadn't stepped into any art studio. Being an artist was something she had wanted since her dad transformed his old apartment into a studio but now that he was gone, she really didn't want to have anything to do with it.

"You don't paint anymore?"

Valentina shook her head and watched as worry shadowed Matthew's features.

"Val, look, I can understand that you're not over it..."

Could he? It wasn't like he lost anyone as important as a parent. Even if he did, he had two and she had had only one.

"And that you left because everything here just reminded you of him but-"

"Stop." She said, softly. Her fight with Sofia had drained her and she really didn't want to argue over it with Matthew not if he was going to say exactly what she knew he was going to say.

"No, Val, look you know I care about you -"

His right hand reached over the table and softly wrapped around her forearm. His touch was warm and gentle and she surprised herself by not pulling away.

"And I'm not mad at you for leaving the way you did but I have to be honest-"

"Matthew, please-" She breathed, not wanting her another word about needing to "get over it" as if the death of your only parent was something like an adolescent breakup.

"You don't look happy."

"And I want you to be happy."

His words filled her ears and she froze. Had anyone spoken to her about it like that?

Not that she remembered. Her uncle had urged her to "forget", her cousin to "replace grief with shopping" and her grandmother had said nothing because it was, after all, her son that had died and she herself was too distraught with grief. Sofia had yelled at her for not getting over it and Zayn didn't even know because she was a coward and she hadn't told him.

Had anyone ever told her that Valentina was the one that needed to be happy?

"Thanks." A gentle squeeze and his hand moved back to his food.

Damn Matthew.

Damn him for saying things like that and making her actually rethink what she was doing. Damn him because he always did things like that, made her question her choices, made her take a break while she was sprinting. Maybe that's why he won student government president, maybe that's why he would win senator and perhaps actual presidency.

She could picture him in the Oval Office. Warm smile and speeches of wanting people to be "happy".

Valentina shook herself and then gathered her things.

"I think I should go, my aunt's waiting for me."

He didn't argue but there was a knowing look in his eyes and he nodded.

"I'll drop by your aunt's tomorrow."

She didn't stay to argue. She wanted to be away. Away from him like she had wanted to be away from Grant and Sofia. Away from him like she wanted to be away from memories of her dad.


	8. Child's Play, Courtesy of S

Manhattan Whisperer: 1,201 followers

Spottings:

@manhattanwhisperer: V leaving Panera and making an escape for her aunt's office after lunch with M, wonder if it was something he said?

@manhattanwhisperer: G alone and with a cup of coffee at Central Park - careful stud, I'm told overthinking is as bad as overeating

\--------------------------------

**Sofia**

As soon as she'd agreed to take part in Brooke's plan for exposing Valentina and making sure she couldn't hide from her troublesome past, Sofia regretted it.

For one, although she had gone to Valentina's apartment to yell at her for leaving without so much of a goodbye, the sight of her former friend, bartered and drained of the life she once had in her eyes, had flooded Sofia with pity and most of all, worry.

There were indeed bags under the brunette's eyes but Sofia hadn't felt the same disgust she'd let manifest in her voice when she described them to Brooke. When she'd seen the skinny brunette, she'd seen the shell of a person her friend had been three years ago and she'd only felt sorrow.

"You're not the one who lost everything!"

Valentina had been right. Of course she'd been right. Sofia came home to two parents every night. And she had a sister for company when those parents weren't around. On the other hand, Valentina was the only child. Her mother had run out on her when she was only a year old and her father was the only one that Valentina could call family. But him dying didn't mean she was left alone. She had Sofia. She had Matthew and Grant. They could have been there for her like they always were when something bad happened. If she had just let them be there for her, Valentina would have been okay.

"What family? You mean the ones that have been tossing me around for the past three years?"

Was that why she left? Because she had no one to take care of her here?

"Oh my gosh, S, MW just posted saying that Valentina had lunch with Matthew."

Her thoughts sidetracked and she stopped picking at her nails. What?

"Did he tell you he was going to see her?"

"No..." Sofia said dumbly. Matthew was her boyfriend, he would have told her if he'd made plans with Valentina...right?

Weren't they together at some point? Brooke's question reignited the nagging doubt she had felt when Matthew first talked about their former friend at the art studio.

Valentina had been Matthew's first love, that much she knew. And did they always say you never fell out of love with your first love?

"Should I call him and ask if he did?"

Brooke looked at her like she was crazy for asking and not doing it right away and Sofia hit "1" on her speed dial.

It rang four times and then her boyfriends familiar voice filled the room. She'd put the call on speaker so Brooke could listen in as well.

"Hey". Mathew greeted.

"Um, hey."

Now that she had him on the call, asking if he had lunch with someone, even if it was Valentina, seemed kind of a little extreme. They'd been together for two years, that had to count for something right?

"Ask him." Brooke whispered, nudging her.

"Did you have lunch with Valentina?"

There was a pause and some paper shuffling in the background which was followed by a muffled, "what?"

Sofia shot Brooke a look of concern. "Did you have lunch with-"

"No."

Her eyes widened as a wave of shock rushed through her. Why was he lying? Had something happened in between them?

"I saw it on MW." She said, her words coming out choppy.

Brooke nodded at her in encouragement. She was agreeing that confrontation for his lie was necessary.

"Okay, babe, don't be mad okay?"

"Mad?" Sofia echoed as shock replaced anger at his confession.

"You got so mad when the three of us talked about talking to her and-"

She shot a glance at Brooke, she hadn't told her friend about the three of them meeting up at the studio and she hadn't been exactly planning on it but now that Matthew had spilled the beans, she would have to explain.

"And I just ran into her at Anastasia's office and she was hungry so we got lunch-"

"You didn't have to lie about it." She managed.

"Tell him you don't want him seeing her again." Brooke said softly, just loud enough for Sofia to hear.

Matthew was explaining why had lied once again but the blonde was turning to Brooke, voice hushed so her boyfriend wouldn't overhear.

"What?" She asked Brooke, not sure if she'd heard her friend right.

"You don't know how he feels about her, he just lied to you about her, what more could he lie about if he saw her again?"

Sofia bit her lip. A nervous habit of hers. Would it be wrong to tell Matthew he couldn't see her again?

The way her boyfriend's grey-blue eyes had lit up when Valentina's face had popped onto the large screen of Brooke's nightclub came into mind as she thought it over.

"Sof? You there?" Matthew asked.

She sighed. She didn't want to lose Matthew. She couldn't lose Matthew. He was her first love, had been since she was old enough to even care for boys, and she didn't want to risk anything.

"I don't want you to see her again." She said.

"Baby, you're taking this too seriously-"

"Matthew."

"Are you fucking serious?" His anger riled hers. Why did seeing Valentina mean so much to him?

"Yes, I'm fucking serious." She growled, glancing at Brooke who shot her a look that said she should be worried about his reaction.

"Why do you want to see her so bad?" Sofia added.

A part of her knew she was being a bit ridiculous, banning her full grown boyfriend from seeing someone else but Sofia also knew and had experienced first hand exactly what Valentina was capable of and dark circles or not she wasn't going to let anything happen. 

"You're being ridiculous-" There was some muffled voices in the back and Sofia remembered that it was just a little past noon, meaning he was still at his office with Valentina's aunt. 

"I have to go, call me when you're done being a child." 

And then the line went dead and Sofia wondered if she'd blown it by being a paranoid control freak. 

"He's being so stupid." Brooke said, erasing her doubt. 

"You don't think I was too extreme?" 

"What? Extreme? No." 

"You're just doing what a girlfriend does and if he can't respect you and your wishes, should you even be with him?" 

Sofia blinked. 

"I'm not going to break up with him if he says no." 

Brooke frowned. "I wasn't saying you should but I'm just saying, if he's a good boyfriend and if you mean anything to him, he would give her up in a heartbeat." 

Would he? Did she mean enough to him for him to leave Valentina completely behind? Sofia hoped so. She couldn't bear the thought of coming second place in his heart when he came first in hers. 

"Do you want to grab lunch or something? I'm hungry and I'm ninety percent sure that Daniel's going to be working - that's what always happens when he leaves for two minutes." 

Sofia nodded absentmindedly as her friend got up from the bed and walked towards her extravagant walk in closet. 

She was hungry but her argument with Matthew had left her feeling somewhat nauseas. 

"Call me when you're done being a child".  His words had burned her as deeply as a hot iron would have. They'd never gotten in arguments like that. Hell, they'd barely fought over the two years that they were together and suddenly he was hanging up on her and she was banning him from seeing people. 

"You want Japanese or Mediterranean?" 

Brooke was slipping her black maxi dress over her hips. 

"Japanese." Sofia answered, smiling at her friend and letting a compliment slip from her lips. 

A part of her contemplated calling Matthew back right then and there but another reasoned with Brooke. In a way, this could be the test of love. If he cared enough he would call back before she would and apologize. If he didn't care and he didn't call...Sofia didn't want to think about what would happen if that were to be the case. She reckoned eating Ben & Jerry's straight out of the tub while she listening to Adele on repeat would be one way to spend their date night.


End file.
